


Got Your Sticks

by jordaan_paaige



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Kinda, M/M, also it's more friendship zimbits than relationship zimbits, football au, this is very ooc i know, this was a school assignment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8429230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordaan_paaige/pseuds/jordaan_paaige
Summary: Just a short little Zimbits high school football AU that I wrote for my creative writing class and changed the names.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So we had to write a short story for my creative writing class and for some reason my mind shot to "Zimbits football AU" so I wrote it (bc I really love soft Zimbits) and changed the character's names and places and stuff. I know it's not really in line with the comic, but I didn't want to change too much about the original story I wrote, I just wanted to make it Zimbits. Also, I wanted to experiment with them already being friends prior to college so this happened. This is the first Check, Please fic I've actually gotten out of the drafts of my google drive, so I'm excited to finally post it! Feedback is well appreciated!
> 
> And as always, all wonderful characters belong to Ngozi!

Eric Bittle was wiping down the counter of the coffee shop he worked at when the bell above the door sounded, indicating a new customer.  Without even glancing up at the door, he pushed the button on the coffee machine and retreated into the kitchen.  He returned a moment later with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread that was cut into two triangles, and snatched up the cup of coffee, before putting everything down in front of a tall boy with messy black hair and who reeked of BO.  The boy had his arms folded onto the counter and his head buried between them and he grunted as the scent of the coffee hit his nose.

“Rough practice?” Eric asked, and the boy grunted again, but picked his head up and leaned onto his hand instead.  His blue eyes looked droopy, but he held a small smile on his lips.  Eric picked the rag up again and started to wipe down the coffee machine.

“Not too bad,” he answered as he cautiously poured sugar into his coffee.  “A little sad though.  I can’t believe tonight is my last game.”

Eric pulled another damp cloth off of the counter and handed it to the boy, who accepted it gratefully and placed it on the back of his neck.  “It’s not the last game you’ll play in.  What about college?”  The boy hesitated and Eric picked up on the way he seemed more unsure than he had a minute ago.  “Jack?”

He blinked and looked up at his friend.  “I told my dad I don’t want to play football in college.”  Eric stopped his cleaning and placed the rag down on the counter, before turning to give his friend his full attention.  They had talked about this before and Eric knew, as much as Jack loved football, it was not something he wanted to do for the rest of his life.  He also knew that the last thing in the world that Jack wanted to do was tell his father that.  Anytime Eric so much as brought up the idea of his friend possibly going to school at Samwell University, where his mother had gone to school, and where Eric knew he  _ wanted _ to go (but would never admit to).  Instead, he would get defensive and claim that he wanted to play football and follow in his dad’s footsteps because that’s who he was supposed to be.  But Jack was, without a doubt, his best friend and he wanted him to be happy. And he wasn’t happy.

“You told him…?”  Jack nodded and took a bite of his sandwich, while Eric just stared at him.  “…And?”

“He laughed,” Jack said in a detached voice, and Eric physically felt his heart lurch.  His friend might not have acted like it hurt, but he could see in Jack’s ridged shoulders and tight jaw that it did.  Eric’s parents had always accepted him from the moment he told them that he wanted to run his own bakery one day and he just wanted that for Jack too.  “I’ve never expressed interest in anything other than football,” he shrugged.  “I guess he thought I was joking.  He’s got a scout coming in from UCF tonight.  Thinks I can lock it in.”

“But you hate the heat, you don’t want to go to Florida.”

“It’s a good school, Eric.”

Eric grit his teeth and blew out a puff of air, but he knew better than to argue with him.  The last time he had tried to convince his friend to stay up North, he had gotten yelled at and told that it wasn’t his life and who was he to know what Jack wanted?  And then he has stormed out and Eric had cried himself to sleep that night.  But, Jack immediately felt horrible because Eric was only trying to help and had come knocking on his door in the middle of the night spouting how sorry he was, that he was wrong, and that no one knew him like Eric did.  And Eric forgave him immediately because he knew the kind of pressure he was under to follow in his father’s footsteps.  It had been a lot for one night and even though Eric knew Jack valued his opinion, he knew how difficult it was for him to even think about doing something for himself.  He didn’t want to upset his friend, but he also didn’t want him to give up his own dreams for something that his father wanted.

Jack changed the subject pretty quickly from there, and instead decided to compliment Eric on his PB&J sandwich, as if Eric didn’t make that for him every day after practice, and as if it required more skill to make than just smearing the peanut butter and strawberry jam on bread.  Eric had made the jam, however, so he took the compliment with only a roll of his eyes before he headed over to the cash register to get change for a man who had ordered a coffee and mini apple pie to go.  By the time he returned to where Jack was sitting, his friend had already finished his sandwich, not to Eric’s surprise, and was in the process of gulping down the last of his coffee.

“You know you can slow down anytime, there’s no rush,” Eric smiled, but pulled the plate away from his friend anyway.

“I know,” Jack said.  “But it’s a game day so I have to get home and get ready and then be back at school by six.  I’ll see you there?”

Eric glanced at the clock on the wall to find that it was already a quarter after five.  “Well I’m not sure you’ll see me, but I’ll be up in the stands as always.”

“You’re still gonna come over after though?  My mom wanted to make sure there would be pie.”  Jack looked nervous and Eric wondered if it had anything to do with the conversation with his father or rather the possible lack of pie.

“Of course,” he waved his hand moved to wipe down the counter where Jack was sitting.  “It’s tradition and that’s not going to stop on your last game!  And you can tell your mama that she'll get some of my famous pecan pie!  It’s in the oven as we speak.”

“Pea-cahn you mean.”

“Oh, don’t you start with me, Jack Zimmermann.”  Jack laughed and Eric was glad to see that his mood had improved drastically from when he had come into the shop.

“I’ve gotta get going, but I’ll see you later,” Jack said as he pulled a five dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to Eric.

Eric brought it over to the register and tossed a mint over to Jack.  “You smell,” he smirked and Jack rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling, so Eric counted that as a win.  He popped the mint into his mouth and turned to head out of the door.  “Good luck!” Eric called and Jack waved at him and then was gone into the street.

 

* * * * *

 

To be completely 100% honest, Eric hated football.  He  _ especially _ hated the fact that he had to sit in forty degree weather on a Friday night and watch a bunch of boys throw around a football.  Sure, it was entertaining at times, but the Falcons, their high school’s football team was just sub par and it really wasn’t worth it.  But, Jack was his best friend, and he knew how much he loved having his friends and family there to support him, so Eric went.  And he pouted the whole way through, though he would never tell Jack that.  However, this was the last game of their senior year, so he tried as hard as he could to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, being that it was the last game of the season, there was approximately five times the amount of people there that there usually was.  Eric was squished between his best friend, Larissa, or as she liked to be called, Lardo, and her boyfriend, Shitty on the freezing metal bleachers, and okay, maybe he appreciated the extra body heat, but he did not appreciate the huge, pot-bellied man who was sitting behind him and spitting in his ear whenever they so much as fumbled the ball.  Eric was annoyed and it didn’t help that he could see Jack sitting on the bench, nervously chewing on his mouthguard and eyeing his dad as he talked over plays with their back-up quarterback, otherwise known as Andrew, the kid who would take Jack’s spot as quarterback next year after he graduated.

“You good?”  Lardo elbowed him in the side and Eric nodded, but shrank further into his puffy down jacket, seeking warmth where there was none.

“Jack told his dad about Samwell,” he explained and both Lardo and Shitty’s heads shot toward him.

“Oh shit dude, what’d he say?” Shitty asked.

“Okay, he didn’t  _ actually _ tell him.” Eric shook his head.   “More like told him he didn’t want to play football in college and he thought he was joking.”

He cringed.  Even saying it outloud make him sad for his friend.  “God, that sucks,” Lardo sighed and Shitty nodded along with her.  They knew better than to push the issue.

“I’m gonna tell him,” Eric said.

Lardo and Shitty exchanged confused looks with each other.  “. . . Tell who what?”

“Coach Zimmermann.  Jack’s dad.  That Jack doesn’t want to play football.”

Lardo and Shitty looked concerned and for good reason.  It was totally not his place, but he didn’t know what to do.  All he knew was that he had to do  _ something _ .  “That’s really not a good idea.”

“I know, but Jack already tried to tell him and maybe if he hears it from someone else-”

“What are you going to say?   _ Oh hey Coach Zimmermann, just letting you know that your son, who has played football since he was six years old, doesn’t want to play football anymore and instead wants to go to college to become a teacher, something you didn’t even know about your own kid! _ ”

Eric shook his head and buried himself deeper into his coat.  Outside of their little bubble, the game went on and the trio barely even noticed when their team scored a touchdown.  Eric felt his stomach fill with regret.

“I know that he loves football,” Eric said, after a moment.  “But I know him.  I know how difficult it is for him to adjust to new things, and UCF is very new and very far.”

“I know you’re going to miss him, but-”

“That’s not what this is about.”  And it really wasn’t.  “Of course I’m going to miss him, but you guys are his friends too, so you have to know how different it’s going to be for him.”

Lardo sighed and leaned her head on Eric’s shoulder.  She seemed to be deep in thought.  “Do you remember when the football players had to hang out with the ‘Future Falcons,’ you know, those little kids who wanted to play football, and teach them how to hold the ball and run down the field?”  Eric nodded, unsure of where she was going.  “Well, being that I’m a part of the Service Organization at school, I arranged a lot of the program and told the players.  Most of them were mad that they had to give up a Saturday to hang around a bunch of little kids, but Jack looked  _ so _ excited, so I put him in charge.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile as wide as he did that day, and it wasn’t the football, that I’m sure of because he didn’t even touch a ball the whole three hours that we were there.”

Eric was smiling now and he could easily recall memories of him and Jack standing in Jack’s kitchen, teaching his little cousins how to bake chocolate chip cookies.  Eric was clearly more of the baker out of the two of them, but he let Jack demonstrate anyway because he could see how much he loved it.

“He even stayed an extra half hour until the last kid was picked up, to make sure that no one was left behind,” Lardo explained.  “He’s sure going to make a great father someday.”

Eric laughed, “I know, I tell him that all the time.”

They watched the rest of the game without bringing up the conversation again, and after it was over and they had won, Eric watched with a frown, as a man in khaki pants and a UCF jacket approached Jack at the bench.

“I know I said it was a bad idea,” Lardo hesitated.  “But maybe you should tell Coach Zimmermann.”  Eric just nodded at her, still unsure of what he was going to do, before he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Jack’s mother with a huge smile and open arms.  He smiled right back and hugged her and she released him and moved to hug Lardo and Shitty too.

“What a game, right guys?” she winked at Eric and he rolled his eyes and laughed.  “How much of it did you actually watch?”

“Too much,” Eric groaned and everyone laughed.  Alicia Zimmermann was like a second mother to Eric and one of the only people, besides Lardo and Shitty, who knew how much Eric hated football.  He could tell her anything.   _ Oh. _

“Alright, well we’re going to get going now, but we’ll see you guys soon,” Shitty said as he flung an arm over Lardo’s shoulder and pulled her into his side.

“Okay guys, come by soon!  All of you, it’s been too long!” Alicia smiled.

“Absolutely,” Lardo answered and then they exchanged one more hug and were on their way.

“Are you okay, Hun?” Alicia asked.  She looked concerned and Eric realized he had been spacing out for a good couple of minutes.

“Yeah, I just-”   _ This was it. _  “Can I talk to you about Jack?”

“Sure Honey, is he okay, or ?”

“No, he’s fine, it’s just,” he took a deep breath.  “I think he’s going to end up at UCF and I know that’s not where he wants to go to school.”

Alicia looked confused.  “Then where does he want to go?  They have a terrific football program there.”

Eric chewed on his lip, but continued on anyway.  “He doesn’t actually want to play football in college.  He wants to teach and I don’t think he’ll ever actually tell you that and I don’t want him to go all the way to Florida when I  _ know _ how unhappy he’ll be.”

He watched as Alicia’s expression went from confusion to understanding as she let his words sink in.  “I’ve always suspected he would end up doing something with kids. . . but you really think he’s only considering football because. . .”  She trailed off, but the end of the sentence was implied,  _ because he thinks he has to _ .

“You’re sure?” she asked and Eric nodded, because he was.  “I’ll talk to him then.  Both of them, but Eric?  Thank you for telling me.  I think you’re right, that he wouldn’t come to me with this.”

“I just want him to be happy.”

“I know, Sweetie, now come on, let’s go home and have some of that delicious pie you’ve made,” she smiled and threaded her arm through Eric’s.

“Yes ma’am,” he smiled and followed her off of the field and into the parking lot.

 

* * * * *

 

Eric followed Alicia home in his own car and parked across the street from their house like he usually did.  He reached into the back of the car, pulled out the pie, and headed across the street and up to the house where Alicia was still standing with the door held open for him.

“Bob went into the kitchen to heat up the oven.  Would you like to throw the pie in for a couple minutes to warm up?  Jack should be home soon.”  Eric followed her into the kitchen.

“Sure,” he answered.  He placed the pie on the table and peeled the aluminum foil off of the top, revealing the gorgeous lattice work that he’d been perfecting for years.

“Wow, Eric it looks amazing as always,” Bob smiled and clapped him on the back, before pulling four mugs out of the cabinet and placing them on the dining room table.  Alicia was in the process of making the coffee.  They all had their post-game roles and Eric was sad to see it come to an end.

“Thank you, Coach,” Eric smiled.  He wandered into the living room where Bob was setting up the TV and finding the next episode of The Office.  As long as they had been doing this post-game tradition, it had always been the same.  Not that it mattered, the family usually talked over the show anyway, but it still felt necessary to have it on.  Eric plopped down onto the couch and absentmindedly started to scroll through his phone, as Bob went back into the kitchen to help his wife.  

Jack arrived not even ten minutes later, and deposited himself into the seat at the end of the table just as Eric was pulling the pie out of the oven.  “Great game, Honey,” Alicia smiled and placed a kiss on top of her son’s head.  “But ew, you smell.”

Jack just laughed, “Eric said the same thing earlier.”

“Well you did and you do, but the shower can wait.  For now, there’s pie!”  He looked proudly on as the family made their way to the table and started cutting slices of pie and topping it with vanilla ice cream, before he sat down in his own seat to Jack’s left and served himself.  He reached forward toward the coffee pot and poured himself a cup, then made sure to add a copious amount of sugar and milk.

“It really was a good game, Son,” Bob said after a couple of minutes and Eric could see Jack visibly tense.  “The scout from UCF thinks you would make a great addition to the team.”

Bob looked overjoyed, but he had to notice the awkward way that everyone at the table avoided eye contact with him.  Thankfully, Alicia spoke up before Jack could.  “Well, Jack still has another week to make a decision and see if there is somewhere he likes more.”

Jack was surprised by her response, but Eric had been expecting it.  He didn’t exactly know how she was going to address the elephant in the room, but this seemed as good a way as any.  Eric also didn’t miss the way she seemed to be having a silent conversation with her husband only using her eyes.  He smirked and looked down at his plate before he shoveled another piece of pie onto his fork.

“Well… Of course, but they have a great football program there and-”

“Well, of course it doesn’t have to be football either,” Alicia laughed and Eric could see hard set of her eyes as she practically  _ glared _ at her husband.  The confusion seemed to meld into something closer to understanding and Bob broke eye contact with his wife.

“… Of course not,” he said with a wave of his hand and out of the corner of his eye, Eric could actually see the relief wipe over Jack’s face.  He sent a silent thanks to Alicia Zimmermann for being amazing and slumped back into his chair.  “Obviously Jack can do whatever he wants, I just thought that he-”

“Well why don’t we ask Jack where he wants to go then?” Alicia interrupted again, and even though she was coming off in an aggressive way, her voice was still somehow passive and inviting.

“Um,” Jack cleared his throat.  “I mean I love football and it would be a dream to play in college…” he trailed off and everyone waited for the “but”. 

“But I think…”   _ There it was. _

“I might want to stay up North…”   _ Close _ .

“And maybe not play football there…”   _ Closer. _

“And maybe try teaching instead…”   _ Finally. _

“Is that something you’re really interested in?” Bob asked and Jack nodded his head weakly, but his father looked anything but mad.

“I think it is, yeah,” Jack shrugged.  He was struggling to meet his father’s eyes.  “I love football but…”

“But it’s not your future.”  Jack finally looked up at his father and Bob was smiling softly.  “I understand, Son.  I want you to do something that makes you happy.”

Jack looked so surprised that Eric wanted to hug him and never let go.  “Really?” he croaked.

“Of course.  I-we love you very much and we just want you to do what’s best for you.”

Jack nodded.  “Boston.”

“Samwell?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a very good school.  Especially for teaching.  I’ll be proud to see you go there.”

Jack was practically shaking and Eric set his hand on his arm to calm him.  Jack relaxed instantly.  “Thank you,” he whispered.  “All of you, thank you.  You don’t even know how much it means to have your support.”

“Always,” Alicia smiled and grabbed her son’s hand.  “We’re your family and we love you.”

Jack looked around the table at the most important people in his life, his parents and his best friend, his  _ family _ , and finally he knew that they had his back.  Always.

  
  



End file.
